The Lakers may have an eye towards the future, but the Denver Nuggets defeated them with one of their trademarks from the past: the fast break.
In the Lakers Showtime era, Magic Johnson and his team set the standard for how the fast break should be ran. On Monday night, the Nuggets reminded the Lakers that they couldn't keep up as they outran them on the way to a 119-108 victory at the Pepsi Center. The Lakers were embarrassed by the younger, quicker Denver squad who outscored them on fastbreak points 33-3.
The purple and gold seemingly left their defense back in L.A as the Nuggets were able to score easily and often. The much maligned Lakers defense surrendered 78 points in the paint. The Nuggets were lead by Wilson Chandler who scored 23 points in the win, despite only playing 25 minutes. Joining him in the victory was poing guard Ty Lawson who contributed 22 points and 8 assists.
Lakers captain Kobe Bryant had a mixed night. Bryant led the team with 29 points and 9 assists, The Lakers couldn't overcome his 1-7 shooting to open the game. Not only couldn't he control his shots, but he also had trouble controlling his temper. Bryant was hit with his 14th technical foul for the season. He's only two technicals away from a league mandated one-game suspension. "He has to control that," Lakers Coach Mike D'Antoni stated. "We can't afford to lose him for a game. Not like that."
Bryant definitely had a lot to be angry about on the floor. Not only couldn't his team match the speed of the Nuggets, but he couldn't have been happy when the game would stop in regards to his big man. Dwight Howard had a game high of 14 rebounds, but shot only 3-14 at the line. The loss broke the Lakers three-game win streak. It also put them 2 games from .500 in a playoff chase that's getting tighter by the day. With just 24 games to go, the Lakers trail the Houston Rockets by 3 games for the 8th spot in the Western Conference.
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